Food of Maldives reflects the diverse and cosmopolitan nature of the land. The culinary art is a delightful creation of local exotic fare and impressively influenced by some of the finest cuisines across the world. Food of Maldives retains all the tastes and traits which are evident of its predominantly Muslim identity. But, the reason to rejoice for the food lovers is that Maldives acknowledges the influence of the varied abundance of global cuisines and the result is rewarding. Know some of the most important facts about the cuisine so that you can have a fine dining experience on your Maldives Tours.
Maldives Food
Traditional Maldives Cuisine is based on three main items – coconuts, fishes and starchy items and their derivatives. Coconut is used in the grated form, squeezed form to get the coconut milk or as coconut oil in recipes which require the ingredients to be deep fried. Hunigondi is the traditional Maldivian implement used to grate the coconut. It is actually a long low chair with a saw-toothed steel blade at its end. The grated coconut is soaked in water and squeezed in order to get coconut milk which is called ‘kaashi kiru’. The coconut milk is an essential ingredient in several mouth watering Maldivian curries.
Fish is another main item in Food of Maldives. The most favorite fish loved by all is skipjack tuna, either dried or fresh. Other favorite fishes are little tuna or ‘latti’, yellow fin tuna or ‘kanneli’, frigate tuna or ‘raagondi’, bigeye scad or ‘mushimas’, wahoo or kuruma and Mahi-mahi or fiyala. These are generally taken in boiled or processed form. The processed tuna pieces are used mainly in pieces or in shavings. The raw or the still soft processed tuna is cut into half an inch thick sections to make curries. Dry processed tuna is mainly used to make light bites called ‘gulha’, ‘kavaabu’ and ‘fatafolhi’. People in Maldives don't have the tradition of eating raw fish which sets this culture of Maldives apart from that of the most Pacific islanders.
Starches like rice, which is eaten boiled or ground into flour, tubers like taro or ala, sweet potato or ‘kattala’ or tapioca or ‘dandialuvi’ as well as fruits like breadfruit or ‘bambukeyo’ or screwpine or ‘kashikeyo’ are popular here. Tubers and breadfruit are taken boiled. The screwpine fruit is mostly eaten raw in thin slices.
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